Cathy McMorris Rodgers is a Climate Change Denier

Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers
Washington

What climate change means for Washington

The drought of 2001 stranded hundreds of thousands of juvenile salmon due to low flows in the Columbia River and kept them from traveling to the Pacific Ocean. In spring 2005, above-average ocean temperatures and reduced ocean movement resulted in a 20 to 30 percent drop in juvenile marine salmon populations.

￼In Washington, there were more than 4,400 hospital admissions for asthma in 2011, with an average ￼charge of more than $17,200 for each stay.

Dry winters are depleting snowpack. 2012 had the third lowest snowpack on record in the West.

Climate change is already impacting coastal cities, water supplies, wildfires, and natural resources in the Northwest. Snowpack is projected to decline by as much as 40 percent in the Cascades in the next 30 years, and hotter and drier landscapes will increase the risk of forest fires. Overall, the West has experienced a nearly fourfold increase in large wildfires in recent decades, leading to respiratory illnesses and other harm from fire-related air pollution. Increased insect outbreaks and changing species composition will present additional challenges for forest products industries. Decreasing summer stream flows will reduce hydroelectric generation capacity, which currently accounts for 70 percent of the region’s electricity supply. Meanwhile, rising temperatures will increase electricity demand for air conditioning and refrigeration, adding more stress on the electricity system and resulting in more carbon pollution. One third of current streams may be too warm to support salmon by the end of the century, further impacting the region’s fishing industry. Sea-level rise will increase coastal erosion, increasing the vulnerability of property, tourism, and livelihoods in the heavily populated Puget Sound area.